{"id":30029,"date":"2023-07-04T13:42:09","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T11:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/?p=67967"},"modified":"2023-07-04T17:36:51","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T15:36:51","slug":"bugs-vs-insects-whats-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/bugs-vs-insects-whats-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Bugs vs insects: what\u2019s the difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

We might use the terms bugs and insects interchangeably but technically they are different says Richard Jones <\/p>

By Richard Jones\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 04 July 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Perhaps surprisingly, \u2018bug\u2019 is not a very old word for insects, having only appeared in the 17th century. By comparison, \u2018fly\u2019, \u2018midge\u2019 and \u2018gnat<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 have roots in ancient languages.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Originally, the term was mostly used to mean a night-fear, bogey or hobgoblin. Its relevance to insects crystallised around 1730 with John Southall\u2019s A Treatise of Buggs, which dealt with bedbugs. Its use has since broadened.<\/span><\/p>\n

To the entomologist, true bugs belong to the order Hemiptera (\u2018half-winged\u2019) \u2013 a group that includes aphids, cicadas, capsids, leafhoppers, shieldbugs, boatmen<\/a><\/strong>, squashbugs, bedbugs and water skaters<\/a><\/strong>. They tend to have part-hardened wing cases, like beetles, but tubular sucking mouthparts rather than biting jaws.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bugs can be both\u00a0 plant-feeding and predators. <\/span><\/span>Most shieldbugs suck plant sap, but there are four UK species that hunt soft-bodied invertebrates such as beetle larvae. This suggests a recent (in evolutionary terms) divergence from their plant-feeding ancestors. On the other hand, all assassin bugs, damsel bugs, boatmen and skaters are predators, suggesting that they made the jump to hunting long ago.<\/p>\n

Of late, \u2018bug\u2019 has become an eclectic term, referring to almost all invertebrate life as well as diseases, software faults and even microphones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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